What's your disc golf history?

[Camgolfer]

We have had some threads on here about why people play disc golf, but I wanted to start a sub topic based on that idea and ask:

How did you start playing disc golf? Was it a friend or family member, something you saw being played, were you drugged and forced to play, or did you receive a message from God about the greatest sport in the world?

My story is that my friends and I played with frisbees and then someone mentioned disc golf. We started throwing our frisbees, bucket lids etc around the local high school as sort of an object course. Once we actually started doing this more we found out where to buy actual discs and started playing on established courses.

 

[zenbot]

I saw disc golf a long time ago at Oak Grove DGC. Late 80s or early 90s. I begged my parents to buy me a disc but they wouldn't because it was too expensive for a "frisbee." I distinctly remember seeing a Sting Ray on one of them. I grew up in the Pasadena area and never played. (I would probably be incredible now!)

I moved to Ventura, California when I was 29. I went on vacation in Minnesota and wandered into a disc golf store in the Mall of America. I bought a Discraft 3 pack (XL, BUZZZ, APX). I threw them in the park for about three months before I played my first round. I have been completely hooked ever since.

 

[lko102]

They put a disc golf course up right at the base of my dorm the spring of my senior year. Regrettable that it happened then instead of my freshmen year, but none the less, me and a few friends started to throw rounds there after class.

Just thinking about it makes me wish I had a 9 hole course 12 steps outside my front door now...

 

[Marty McFly]

In high school I went to a park with a buddy who was really into disc golf. He gave me a disc and we played 21 holes at Lubbock's Mackenzie Park. I had a blast and kept going out, even without my friend. Before I knew it, I was hooked. I started buying plastic and bringing more friends out to our local course. For one full semester we played 5+ times a week and started trying to get better. I continued playing with the same guys all through college but not as much. We faded off and I got too busy to get really into the sport like I wanted. And then it happened...

I got married.

The first year of marriage seemed to fly by and my wife and I played maybe once in that span. We did however play ball golf alot but it just was not the same. This year we really wanted to do more outside activities that didn't break the bank.. We now play too much and are hooked once again. My work schedule has allowed me to play more and we seem to get more fun time in. We now play every chance we get.

 

[Roc1Time]

Got a disc for a present from my sis and I went to the course.

 

[tomschillin]

when i was 15 i worked as a lifeguard at a pool in a community park, my original home course. I think the year was '95 and there was a PDGA event there, they set up an extra 12 holes all around the park and I noticed them for the first time. I investigated in the following days and learned the layout of the course. In lifeguarding you have 15 minute rotations where you're sitting on the stand or taknig a break...it got to the point that I would do my 15 minutes up and then run over to the course in just my swim trunks and get a quick 9 holes in. it got to the point where i could play 9 holes in 11 minutes, not very well though...and after a summer or 2 playing barefoot i decided that maybe shoes would be a good idea as well...

 

[klay]

All through high school and college I heard friends talk about playing disc golf and try to get me to play but for some reason I always refused. I think I thought I would either be terrible at it or it would bore me to death. Strange thing was that I was huge into ultimate, played it all the time and had above average throwing skills with many different shots.

It took until last summer, 2 years removed from Uni, that my girlfriend (of 3 years at the time) finally convinced me to play the course at Beaver Creek Resort in Avon with her. We had to share her 4 discs between us and even after the first few holes I was still skeptical (my shots were terrible). But I eventually got the hang of it and the rest is history.

I just started my second summer of playing, I'm accumulating quality discs and gear and I can't wait to try new courses and improve my scores on old ones. Can't believe I waited so long, but now I'm making the most of it.

 

[billnchristy]

Around 1999 when I was in the Navy a few of my friends showed up and said hey lets go play disc golf...my wife and I were like what? but it was something to do with friends so we went. They let us borrow some discs and we played and I picked some up at the base hobby shop the next workday.

We then had a big hiatus when we lived in Ballston Spa NY because there were not any completed courses nearby.

We just recently picked it up again and I went into OCD mode and bought a butt load of stuff.

 

[BENFTS]

i was at baseball practice in Melbourne fl and saw some people doing something. i asked my dad and he told me that it was disc golf. this was back in 93 but i played for about 3 months till we moved and there were no other courses. i stopped playing for 13 years and picked it back up in 2007. this is the first course i ever played. http://www.dgcoursereview.com/course.php?id=590

 

[The Reverend]

A guy that used to work with me years ago was my first introduction to disc golf. One night at an "after-party" after a team outing me, the guy (to protect the innocent we'll just refer to him as "da bomb"), and my boss all went to house to continue getting blitzed after the bar. I knew Mr. Bomb played disc golf, and he was really into it, but he sort of had an abrasive personality and I was sort of biased against the sport because of that. So that night I had my first introduction practice putting in Da Bomb's front yard. The 3 of us putted around for probably about 3 hours, most of the time we just made fun of each other for our respective putting stances.

So long story short Mr Bomb ended up not working for the company anymore, I filed disc golf into the back of my mind as a silly sport where I might run into him and didn't think anything more of it.

Then about 2 years after that my roommate, one of our friends, and I were sitting in my living room on a beautiful sunday afternoon, doing nothing, and all decided that we should get out into the sunshine and do something. My roommate had just started playing disc golf, and suggested it as an activity, and my friend and I both said "sure, why not?" 1 round later we were both instantly hooked. The next weekend we went out and bought our own discs, and recruited another friend of ours (who incidentally made the mistake of wearing sandals on his first outing)... and the rest, as they say, is history.


I did however run into Mr. Bomb on one of the local courses one day after I had only been playing for about 3 months. He seems to have calmed down quite a bit since working with me. In fact I'm sort of a jerk for not calling him up to play a round, considering he's really good, but I don't know... I mostly feel comfortable playing with my friends I guess.

 

[Neophyte]

Well I played object disc golf a couple of times back in the mid nineties and then lost track of the game until last year. A buddy of mine asked me to come and play a round with his friends. They were all avid dgers and after shanking my first forehand drive ever into a huge mess of thorns I was hooked.

 

[Midnightbiker]

I guess my story is a little different than most. I never knew anyone that played, and had never heard of the sport or even seen a basket in a park.

I listen to XM Radio at night as I drive my truck across Texas. I used to listen to a radio show aimed at truckers called "The Trucking Bozo Show" that came out of Ohio. The guy retired and his son "Little Bozo" was now hosting he show.

A couple of times , the same guy would call in, and the host would call in, and I heard the host ask the guy "Hey, when are we going to get together and play some Frisbee Golf?" They talked like they played it all the time.

At first I thought this sounded strange, and I pictured some guys going out to a regular golf course and trying to hit the flag pole, or cover the hole with a Frisbee. This sounded strange to me, and really didn't interest me. After hearing them talk about it for about a month, I decided to investigate it.

I went online, and started checking it out, and saw that it was a real sport, and looked like it would be fun to play. I wasn't sure were to buy discs, so I went looking on Craig's List. I found a lady, that had a bad knee, and couldn't play anymore, and was selling all her discs. I bought 16 discs and a rule book for $30. Now I had to learn how to play.

We left the ladies house in the rain, and found a course a few miles away, and we just threw some discs into a basket. We had no idea about putters, drivers, over-stable, under-stable,ect. After much trial and error, I did lots of research, and learned what the different discs will do. I found a course about 20 miles away (didn't know there was one closer) . My friend and I went to the course on a hot June day ( left our drinks in the car,big mistake) and played a round with a couple of locals that showed us the ropes. I was hooked.

Since that day, its been an uphill battle, because I didn't make any disc golf friends for about a year, and I spent that time, learning about discs, bags, making many bad shots, and after 9 months, I learned the value of the practice field. It will now be 2 years next month, and I fell I learn something new every time I play. I have made many new friends, and played in many tournaments.

I wish that my brother and close friends would share the Disc Golf love that I have, but they don't. My close friends will not play inless I go. Its sucks sometimes, but I don't care, I am having a great time. I love this sport.

 

[Camgolfer]

The cool thing is that everyone has a different story, but the end result is the same. We love disc golf!

 

[aubuchon]

This past summer i continued to drive by our local park seeing these metal basket things in various fields. Were they deer feeders? Soon, I found out that they were dg baskets, and the civic center loaned discs. I brought my 2 boys along and thus my addiction was born. I'm on a church league that plays each week, has a bag tag challenge, and we're currently in a month long tournament. I am looking forward to playing in actual tournaments this summer.

 

[mashnut]

When I was in middle school, a friend ('s parents) took 4 of us to the local disc golf course for his birthday party. I played with that friend on and off through high school, then really got into the sport when I moved to Indiana for college. I got my girlfriend into the sport, and in the last year and a half we've played 80 new courses together and joined the local club for weekly tag rounds.

 

[Camgolfer]

When I was in middle school, a friend ('s parents) took 4 of us to the local disc golf course for his birthday party. I played with that friend on and off through high school, then really got into the sport when I moved to Indiana for college. I got my girlfriend into the sport, and in the last year and a half we've played 80 new courses together and joined the local club for weekly tag rounds.

Wish my wife would play DG with me... maybe someday. Just gotta get her out more.

 

[mashnut]

Wish my wife would play DG with me... maybe someday. Just gotta get her out more.

It's great to have someone to play with, especially when they're just as into the sport as you are. We play ~5 rounds per week together.

 

[John Rock]

In 1984 I moved in with a friend who lived across from a city park (no baskets there). After work in the afternoons I would walk across the street to kill some time at the park. I had heard about Frisbee golf before (I have played catch for many,many years and knew I could throw farther than most of my friends), so I took a couple of my catch discs and just started trying to hit the light poles. Before long I had regular tees and a basic course laid out through the park using 9 light poles. Sure I was just guessing at the rules, but it was lots of fun! I got my friend to come over and play eventually, and sure enough, he got hooked also.

After I got my own place across town, I started going to the park where my friends and I played catch and laid out a course there using 9 trash cans. I bought a new Frisbee one day and it came with the Wham-O brochure with an address. So I sent them a letter and asked them to send me all the info they had about Frisbee games. Did they ever! They sent some basic info but more importantly, they sent me a "Discovering the World" catalog. Man, I had no idea there were actually discs made just for golf and distance. So I ordered a few new discs (I think it was an Aero and an XD). At first I didn't like the new beveled edge stuff because it flew so differently than what I was used to, but once I ripped one the right way and it took off across the park, there was no looking back.

From there the beast just grew exponentially, more people started joining me during rounds, and I laid out more courses around town (still using light poles, trash cans, and trees). I never got to put into a basket until 1987, when I started going to tournaments. Eventually we got baskets installed in a park here, and we were fortunate enough to get a nice piece of property to lay out the course. It's been in use since 1988 (with a few re-designs - but pretty much the same), and it's still a quality course.

 

[Doktor John]

We moved to Huntington Beach in Oct. 1988 from Carson City NV. In early 99 (jan or feb) we were enjoying the great SoCal winter weather at Central Park. My sons were 8 and 4 1/2 at the time and we saw some people throwing what we assumed were Frisbees and getting all excited about whatever they were doing. We walked over and saw they were trying to throw into a basket.
We didn't really talk to any of the players, but the next week we brought some of our beach Frisbees to the park and started playing.
It didn't take us long to figure out that the discs that the other people were throwing had to be different and as we were leaving the park, a guy was selling some discs out of the trunk of his car.
I stopped and talked with him and ended up buying about 4 discs from him to get started.
We were hooked ever since.
My son's still play from time to time, my wife has picked up the game and I have logged 254 courses in 4 countries and we are getting ready to go on our second disc golf cruise in Jan...

We love this game

 

[hatfield57]

started on a object course in 1995- thunderbay ontario, have rarely left home without a disc since.